Tips to Help you Sell: The Affluent, VIP or Luxury Traveller

This month, you may come across articles in trade publications or ads of ours online promoting luxury travel, as we treat September as ‘Selling Luxury Travel’ month. As a wholesale reservations company, we pride ourselves on our ability to customise travel arrangements around a client’s budget, time-off, dreams and desires, no matter who they are. But what about those clients who are looking for the finer things in life? There are tour companies (set departure tours) which specialise in only these types clients, and it’s easy to sell, as their reputation is in handling these types of travellers… but how do you handle a custom, tailor made package for the same kind of traveller? We’ve collected some quick to digest tips, which we’ll be adding to over the month of September to help you sell to the discerning globetrotter:

1. Understand and get to know the customer and get the quote right the first time: Discerning travellers often view their time as a commodity. If you can get the quote right the first time, you a better chance to close the sale. ASK lots of questions, exhaust all the possibilities.

2. Be an expert in what you sell. If the customer believes you are the expert in this destination they will be more inclined to listen to your recommendations. Discerning travellers are looking for value, you need to know more than they do and make your input invaluable.

3. Paint the picture. You are the expert (refer to tip 2) and the customer is coming to you to tap into that expertise. Paint them the picture of what THEIR trip will look like.

4. Create a unique experience. Discerning travelers want to be able to tell their friends about their trip, so ensure that your customer cannot book this trip with anyone else.

5. Sell UP. Even those who have the means are not always comfortable with luxury product and might not identify themselves that way. Encourage them to spend their money wisely on the upgrades that matter most to them.